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Loading ...Project Walk® Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Center, the world leader in spinal cord injury (SCI) recovery, provides an improved quality of life for people with SCI Continue Reading »
A spinal cord injury can happen to anyone yet no one is prepared for life after the injury. Continue Reading »
Imagine being paralyzed: whatever position you are in right now, you must stay there– until someone comes to move you.
As an American, the chances of you becoming paralyzed are roughly one in fifty.
With a U.S. population of 315 million, an estimated 5.6 million children and adults suffer paralysis. That’s 1.7% of America’s population, members of your family and mine.
One is my friend who recently incurred a nerve condition called Guillain-Barre’ (gee-on burray, GB) syndrome. He was paralyzed in hands and legs, but fortunately had the good sense to get to a physician immediately. Continue Reading »
Maintaining health can prevent secondary complications from developing, new book says
oanne Smith and Kylie James knew that diet plays a significant role in the health of people with neurological disorders. But they couldn’t find published material to that back knowledge up.
So Smith, a registered nutritionist with a spinal cord injury, and James, a nutritionist and occupational therapist specializing in neurological disorders, decided to produce a book themselves. They did it with a grant from the Paralyzed Veterans of America. Continue Reading »
New Brunswick, NJ – Walking is the obvious goal for individuals who have a chronic spinal cord injury, but it is not the only one. Regaining sensation and continence control also are important goals that can positively impact an individual’s quality of life. New hope for reversing the effects of spinal cord injury may be found in a combination of stem cell therapy and physical therapy as reported in Cell Transplantation by scientists at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Continue Reading »
During the past four years, important New York State funding for the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (SCIRP) have been diverted to offset the New York State budget deficit. The end result has been a loss of support for:
SCIRP has been funded through a law that stipulates a surcharge on those convicted of moving traffic violations since 1998. The statute stipulates that the program be funded through a new surcharge on moving traffic violations. If you speed in New York State, a surcharge goes into a trust fund for spinal cord research. As moving violations account for many spinal cord injuries, this funding mechanism is appropriate and vital. Continue Reading »
People often ask me when or if there will ever be a cure for spinal cord injury. Although there are many differing opinions about this, I am confident there will be a cure in my lifetime. In the meantime, anyone with a spinal cord injury should have a long-term plan for their treatment and care.
The number of spinal cord injuries per year has remained fairly stable over the last two decades, with nearly 12,000 occurring each year mostly from sports injuries, car accidents and other forms of traumatic injury. Currently in the United States there are approximately 200,000 people are living with spinal cord injuries or spinal dysfunction. With today’s advanced medical treatments, more spinal cord injury patients survive the trauma compared to just a few decades ago. This positive shift in mortality rate underlines the great importance of initial acute treatment and follow up rehabilitation. Continue Reading »
Systemic hypothermia remains a promising neuroprotective strategy. There has been recent interest in its use in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). In this article, we describe our extended single center experience using intravascular hypothermia for the treatment of cervical SCI. Continue Reading »
Precisely timed nerve stimulation in patients with spinal cord injuries improved their ability to use their hands, at least temporarily, researchers reported.
The non-invasive process increased the amount of force patients could exert with a finger for up to 85 minutes, according to Monica Perez, PhD, and a colleague from the University of Pittsburgh.
After stimulation, patients could also complete a dexterity task more quickly than before, the researchers reported online in Current Biology. Continue Reading »